Recent progress in the development of agonists and antagonists for melatonin receptors

Abstract

The various physiological actions of the neurohormone melatonin are mediated mainly by two G-protein-coupled MT(1) and MT(2) receptors. The melatoninergic drugs on the market, ramelteon and agomelatine, as well as the most advanced drug candidates under clinical evaluation, tasimelteon and PD-6735, are high-affinity nonselective MT(1) and MT(2) agonists. However, exploring the exact physiological role of the MT(1) and MT(2) melatonin receptors requires subtype selective MT(1) and MT(2) ligands. This review covers novel melatoninergic agonists and antagonists published since 2010, focusing on high-affinity and subtype selective agents. Additionally, compounds not mentioned in the previous review articles and ligands selective for the MT(3) binding site are included.